Method and apparatus for manipulating sheet material



V. H. BODLE March 5, 1 92 9.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING SHEET- MATERIAL Filed v1m. 15, 192'? 4' Sheets-Sheet n/277705 Z61? 717432500 19 fqj March 5, 1929. v; H. BODLE 1,704,528

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING 51mm MATERIAL Fild Nov.15. 192 4 Sheets-Sheet I 2 March 5, 1929. v BQDLE- 1,704,528 1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Nov.l5, 192' 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Mar. 5, 1929.

UNITED STATES Ar r R VIRGIL H; BODIJE, F AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE B. F. GOODEICH COMPANY, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING SHEET MA'IFRIAL.

Application filed November 15, 1927. Serial No. 233,514.

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for manlpulatmg sheet material, as in forming bellows tongue assemblies for overshoes by juxtaposing the margins of a tongue blank of rubberized fabric and cementing to the margins-the respective string er tapes of a slide fastener.

Ihe chief objects of my invention are to provide improved procedure and apparatus for presenting. margins of a sheet of material in determined. relation to each other to provide economy of time and labor; and to provide accuracy of assembly in a structure of the character described.

Of the accompanying drawings Fig; 1 is a side elevation of apparatus em bodying and adapted to carry out my inventionin its preferred form, with the parts in work-receiving: position and with. the work therein. I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, but wlth the work-clamping members in clamping position, at a later stage of operation than that of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of-the machme from the near side of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig; 1.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the device from the same viewpoint as that of Fig. 1 but showing the device at its final stage of operation.

Fig. 6 is a sectional perspective VIeW of work-engaging members holding the margins of a sheet of rubberized fabric in juxtaposition to each other.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the members shown in Fig: 6 and of the work in association therewith.

Referring to the drawings, the device comprises a table 10 upon which is mounted a w-ide'bearing-bracket 11 for a shaft 12 mounted in the bracket and extending in each direction therefrom; Hinged upon the end portions of the shaft-12 are a pair of swingmg brackets 13, 14 each having bearing members mounted upon the shaft at each s1de of the bracket 11 and each formed with oblique extensions; 15, 16, which outwardly converge when the swinging brackets are in horizontal positions, as shown in Fig. 2, and which constitute gravity work-clamping members adapted to coact, to grip opposite slde margins of a fabric blank 17, with a pair of workclamping members 18, 19 which are hmged upon respective shafts 20, 21, secured by set screws 22, 23 (Fig. 2), in suitable mountings formed, upon the respective swinging brackets-13, 14, the shafts 20 and 21 preferably bemg dlsposed' in substantially perpendicular relation to the shaft 12 'upon which the swing in brackets are mounted. 1

ach ofv the work-clamping '1ne1nbers18, 19 1s formed with a short contact arm, 24v or 25, adapted to be engaged by a-plunger, 26 or 26 slldably projecting upward through the table 10, for holding the members 18, 19 in elevated positions with relation to their hinge shafts 20, 21, as shown in Fig. 1, to'p'e'rmit the fabric blank 17 to be mounted upon the lower work-engaging members'15, 16, and for lowering the members 18, 19 onto the blank to hold the blank against the lower members 15, 16. r

' Each of the members 18, 19 is preferably provlded on its work-engaging face with pro ections 27, 27 (Fig. 1) mating with dimples 28, 28 formed in the work-engaging faces of the members-'15, 16, to prevent slips page of the blank.

The construction as described is such that the two work'clamping assemblies while clamping the margins of the blank 17 may be turned upward about the shaft 12 to bring mto close relation the margins 29, 30, of' the blank 17 projecting from the clamping members, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. i

The members 18, 19 are formed with rabbeted outer or upper edges, which provide thereon narrow, work-engaging flanges 31', 32 which define, when the clamping assemblies are brought together, as shown clearly fastener assembly 35 while the stringer tapes I 36, 36 of the slide fastener are by hand presented to and adhesively pressed against the margins 29, 30 of the fabric blank, which are turned outward as shown in Fig. 7 for the res ception of the slide fastener assembly, the flanges 31., 32 thusserving as gauges for the accurate positioning of the slide fastener assembly. r

The work-clamping members 15, 16 are formed with respective work-pressingfaces 37 38 disposed at an angle to their workclamping faces and adapted to serve as backing supports for the fabric margins 29, 30 in, the pressing of the stringer V tapes. 36 against the latter.

' lever 43 which is fulcrumed upon a shaft 44 mounted in a bracket 45 secured to the under side of the table 10, the lever having a rearwardly extending arm 46 connected by a pull spring 47 with a post 48 projecting downward from the table, the spring 47 being adapted to urge the work-supporting plate 39 upward toward its work-supporting position, in which it is stopped b Y contact of the arm 42 with the lower face 0 the table 10.

For accurately positioning the blank 17, the plate 41 is provided with a pair of gauges 49, 49, which are adjustably secured upon the plate by stud bolts 50, 50 rising from the plate through slots 51, 51 formed in the base flanges of the respective gauges 49, the bolts beingprovided with wing nuts 52, 52.

In the particular operation for which the present embodiment of the invention is designed, the blank is of approximately triangular form, and it requires the attachment of the stringer tapes to its margins throughout zones extending almost to the apex of the triangle, and consequently the outer ends of the work-clamping members 15; 16 extend into close proximity to each other, and are substantially in alignment with the shaft 12 about which the work-clamping assemblies are turned. For supporting them against the pressure with which the slide fastener assembly is adhesively secured to the margins of the blank, a cam lever 53 is fulcrumed upon a shaft 54 mounted in a pair of brackets 55,

56 secured to the under side of the table 1.0 and the lever 53 is formed at its outer end with a cradle portion 57 adapted to engage the outer ends of the members 15, 16, and hold them against both downward and lateral displacement when the work-clamping assemblies are turned upward about the shaft 12 and the cam lever 53 is elevated.

For so turning the work-clamping assemblies, each of the swinging brackets 13, 14 is connected by a link, 58 or 59, with a slide 60, whichis slidably held, against the face of a bracket 61 extending downward from the table, by a pair of cap screws 62, 62 mounted in a vertical slot 63 formed in the slide, and the slide is provided at its lower end with a cam face 64 adapted to be engaged by a cam roller 65 journaled on the outer end of an arm 66 secured upon a shaft 67 which is mounted in the brackets 55, 56.

Secured upon the shaft 67 is an arm 68 having lost motion connection with a link 69 ivoted at 70 to the arm- 42 of the lever 43 for owering the work-supporting plate 39 when the work-clamping assemblies are raised, and permitting the spring 47 to raise the worksupporting plate 39 when the work-clamping assemblies are lowered, the lost motion of the link 69 permitting the clamping members 18, 19 to descend onto the work before the worksupporting plate 39 is lowered, against the force of the spring 47, by the downward pull of the arm 68 upon the link.

Also secured upon the shaft 67 is an arm 71 provided on its outer end with a cam roller 72 adapted to coact with the lower face of an arm 73 hinged upon a shaft 4 mounted in the brackets 55, 56, the arm 73 being hinged at its outer end to the plungers 26, 26 for holding the clamping members 18, 19 elevated as in Fi 1 while the members 15 16 descend to work-receiving position, and to lower the members 18, 19 onto the work before the work-clamping assemblies are swung upward, lost motion being provided between the cam roller 65 and the cam face 64 of the slide 60, as shown in Fig. 1, to permit the members 18, 19 to engage the fabric blank before the slide 60 is moved upward.

For oscillating the shaft 67 an arm 75 is secured thereon and connected by a link 7 6 with one arm of a bell-crank lever 77, which is fulcrumed upon a shaft 78 mounted in the brackets 55, 56, the other arm of the bellcrank lever 77 being connected by a link 79 with one arm of a hand lever 80 which is fulcrumed upon a stub shaft 81 secured in an extension 82 formed upon the bracket 56. The parts are so proportioned that when the hand-lever 80 is in its forward position, as shown in Fig. 5, the arms 76 and 77 will act as a toggle, in over-center position, to hold the parts against return movement.

For raising the cam lever 53 with its cradle 57, a cam roller 83 is journaled on the end of an arm 84, which is secured upon the shaft 78, and an arm 85 secured upon the rear end of the shaft 78 is connected by a link 86 with one arm of a hand lever 87 which is fulcrumed upon the stub shaft 81, the parts be ing so proportioned that when the handle arm of the hand lever 87 is pushed forward to raise the cam lever 53 as shown in Fig. 5, the cam roller 83 will be in such an over-center position with relation to the lever 53 and the shaft 78 as to prevent reverse movement of the parts. To insure that the hand lever 87 will be returned to its original position before the hand lever 80, to withdraw the cradle 57 from the clamping members 15, 16 and permit the latter freely to turn, a bracket 88 secured to the hand lever 87 projects laterally past the hand lever 80, so that the latter cannot be moved backward so long as the hand lever 87 is held in its forward position shown in Fig. 1, the blank 17 is laid upon the plate- 39 and positioned between the gauges 49.

The hand lever 80 is then pushed forward, which causes the parts connected therewith as above described to move to the positions in which they are shown in- Fig. 5, the plungers 26, 26 beingloweredtopermit the members 18 19 to'descend onto'and to grip the fabric blank before the work-supporting plate 39 is pulled downward and before the blank-clamping structures are swung upward. The arms 76, 77, acting as a toggle, then hold the connected partsin position as shown in Fig. 5. hen the hand'lever 80 is in its dotted line positionof 1, in it's forward movement, the parts of'the' machine are positioned as shown iii-Figs Qand After-the hand lever 80 has reached its foremost position the hand lever 87 is movedforward, which causes the roller 83 th engage the lever 53, and thus toelevate the cradle 57 into engagement with the outer ends of the members 15, 16, as shownin Fig. 5, where it is held by the over-center relation of the'roller 83.

The blank margins 29, are thus presented as shown in Fig. 6, and they are then spread outwardly and theslide' fastenerassembly is adhesively pressed upon them as shown in Fig; 7 the-jaw members 34 of the slide fastener assembly being accommodated in the channel 33 and positioned b'ythe flanges 31, 32 for accurate assembly of the slide fastener with the margins of the blank 17.

The assembling; operation being this completed, the handlevers 80 and 87 are-returned to their original'posit'ions, which causes the other parts of the machine to be returned to their work-receiving" positions of l", the Work being slipped from the clamping members 18, 19 as soon as the reversem'ove ment of parts has cleared thecra'dle 57 from i the members 15, 16 and has thus loosened the hold of the work-clamping members upon the blank. 1

The dropping away of the work-supporting plate 39 before the work-clamping devices start their upward movement permits the middleportion of thefabric' bl anlirto be freely folded for bringing the margins of the blank into juxtaposition to each other.

The operation may be very rapid and it resultsin a very accurately assembled prod not having its parts strongly secured to gether.

Various modifications are possible within the scope of my ,invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method which comprises determinately positioning a flatpiece of flexible; nonsetting material in substantially fiat form, determinately moving opposite margins of the piece to bring them into juxtaposition and'para'llel relation toeach-other with their edges facing in the same direction, bending the said margins of the piece substantially into the same plane without substantially modifying the relation to each other of the immediately adjacent zones of the piece, and applying a connecting structure to the two margins while they remain substantially in the same plane.

2. A method as defined in claim l'in which the'piece' of flexible material is so formed that the opposite margins mentioned are nonarallel to each other when the piece is in flat form and in which the corresponding parts of the respective margins which are most remote from each other are moved the greater distance with relation toea'ch other to bringthem into uxtaposition as defined.

3. The method of assembling a rubberized fabric shoe tongue blank with a slide-fast'ener assembly which comprises determinately positioning the blank in substantially fiat form, determinatelv swinging the opposite margins thereof into parallel relation with their edges substantially.parallel and fac ing in the same direction, bending the said margins substantially into the same plane Without substantially modifying the relation to each other of the immediately adjacent zones of the blank, and adhesively'securing the stringer tapes of a slide-fastener as sembly tot-he said margins-respectively while the said margins'remain substantially inthe same plane;

4-K. Sheet-manipulating apparatuscomprising means for supporting in determinate posit-ion andin' substantially flat condition a piece of the sheet'material, and means for determinately moving opposite margins of the 10 piece from such position into juxtaposition to-each other and there providing abacking for the margins with the margins lyin'gisubstantially inthe same plane.

5. Sheet-manipulating apparatus comprising means for supporting in determinate position and in substantially flat condition a piece of the sheet material and means for determinately moving opposite margins of the piece from saidposition' into juxtaposition 115 and substantially parallel relation to each other with their ed es facing in thesame direction and so holdingthem by engagement only'with adjacent zones of the piece.

6. Sheet-manipulating apparatus comprising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together and having respective stockan'choring zones which so recede from their hinge axis that the said zones come approximately into parallel relation to each other 1 5 when the members are turned intoproximity t-o each other about their hinge axis and assume divergent positions with relation to each other when the said members are spread apart.

7. Sheet manipulating apparatus comprismg a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at then bases and having respective stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting.

obliquely toward their axis from parts of their bases relatively remote from the said axis.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 including means for intermittently supporting the outer ends of the stock-anchoring fingers.

9. Sheet-manipulating apparatus comprising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at their bases and having respective stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting obliquely toward their axis from parts of their bases relatively remote from the said axis and mating fingers for the stock-anchoring fingers, the said mating fingers being hinged to the respective stock-anchoring members.

10. Sheet-manipulating apparatus comprising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at their bases and having respective stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting obliquely toward their axis from parts of their bases relatively remote from the said axis and mating fingers for the stockanchoring fingers, the said mating fingers being hinged to the respective stock-anchoring members upon axes transverse to the axis upon which the stock-anchoring members are hinged together.

11. Sheet-manipulating comapp artus 'prising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at their bases and having respective stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting obliquely toward their axis from parts of their bases relatively remote from the said axis, mating fingers for the stockanchoring fingers, thesaid mating fingers being hinged to the respective stock-anchoring members, and means for relatively turning the said stock-anchoring members about their hinge axis toward and from each other and for effecting an opening and closing of the pairs of fingers in timed relation to such turning movement.

12. Sheet-manipulating apparatus comprising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at their bases and having stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting obliquely with relation to their axis from parts of their bases at a distance from the said axis, means for supporting the middle portion of a piece of sheet material placed with margins thereof upon said fingers when the said members are opened out, and means for swinging said members toward each other and for concurrently lowering the said supporting means.

13. Sheet-manipulating apparatus com prising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at'their bases and having stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting from parts of their bases at a distance from their axis, means for'supporting the middle portion of a piece of sheet material placed with margins thereof upon said fingers'when the said members are opened out, and means for swinging said members toward each other and for concurrently lowering the said supporting means.

14. Sheet-manipulating apparatus comprising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at their bases and'having stock-anchoring fingers freely proj eating from parts of their bases at a distance from their axis, means for supporting the middle portion of a piece'of sheet material placed with margins thereof upon said fingers when the said members are opened out, means for swinging said members toward each other and for concurrently lowering the said supporting means and means movable into and out of engagement with the outer end portions of the said fingers for holding them in determinate positions. 7

15. Sheet-manipulating apparatus comprising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at their bases and having stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting from parts of their bases at a distance from their axis, means for supporting the middle portion of a piece of sheet material placed with margins thereof upon said fingers when the said members are opened out, and means including an over-center locking device for swinging said members toward each other and for concurrently lowering the said supporting means.

16. sheet manipulating apparatus comprising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at their bases and having stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting from parts of their bases at av distance from their axis, means for supporting the middle portion of a piece of sheet material placed with margins thereof upon said fingers when the said members are opened out, means for swinging said members toward each other and for concurrently lowering the said supporting means, means movable into and out of engagement with the outer end portions of the said fingers for holding them in determinate positions and means for locking the said holding means in holding position.

17. Sheet-manipulating apparatus comprising a pair of stock-anchoring members hinged together at their bases and having stock-anchoring fingers freely projecting obliquely with relation to their axis from parts of their bases at a distance from the said axis, means for supporting the middle portion of a piece of sheet material placed with margins thereof upon said fingerswhen the said members are opened out, means for swinging said members toward each other and for concurrently lowering the said supporting means and means for locking said swinging means in determinate position.

18. Sheet-manipulating apparatus com- 19. Apparatus as defined in claim 18 in prising two pairs of gripping members Which a gripping member of each pair is mounted for determinate relative movement formed with a surface adapted to provide a and adapted to grip respective margins of a backing for a marginal portion of the sheet 5 sheet of material and to be brought together bent to a position approximately at right 15 to hold the said margins in proximity to each angles to the portion gripped by the pair of other and gauge means for determinately members, f positioning a margin-joining structure With 1 In Witness whereof I have hereunto set relation to the said margins While they are my hand this 10th day of November, 1927.

10 so held. VIRGIL H., BODLE. 

